Frosted Hourglass
by Empress Akitla
Summary: The 10th Doctor doesn't want to go. However, what happens when someone decides that the universe has different plans for him and he is prevented from regenerating? The TARDIS doesn't approve of wibbly wobbly stuff on this scale, and spirals into Alaska where two beasts are waiting to correct things, and kill the Doctor...
1. Prologue

**So...I've been wary of posting this story for a while, but I've decided to go ahead and do it. I really appreciate any feedback, and _constructive_ critcism. Anyways, welcome to the first story of my "Doctor Who" story arc. Please enjoy. :)**

* * *

**Prologue**

_The universe sits in the Hourglass, watching time go by through frosted glass and tears of ice._

Time was ever flowing through the shapely glass, constantly being struck by the storms of man and creatures alike. A gray mass of clouds glowed over the vast golden desert of sand within the upper half of the glass, lightning only adding to the strange light being produced. It was here that legends were born.

Many gentle hands had stabilized the Hourglass throughout the centuries, watching and caring for time. Some had died young, some had died old, some had lived in the shadows, some had lived in the sun, some had only done what was needed, and some had delved passed the normal barriers.

All the owners of the hands had watched with amusement and some with trepidation as a small blue box flew to and fro through the vortex. The rare creature that used this time machine caused fixed events to happen, caused some things to happen that weren't meant to. No one paid him much mind unless he did something that could injure time.

The ones who had stabilized time and the universe had occasionally been helped by other creatures that were familiar with time. They could never actually touch the Hourglass, nor use it to their own ends. The helpers had passed into legends and myths as had the ones who cared for the Hourglass.

The Hourglass was a fickle thing, not being fully sentient, but enough to be able to choose the one who was the best fit to care for it. Of course, the handlers could choose their heir if they knew when they were going to pass, but most of them ended suddenly so the glass had to immediately be taken care of. It could only drop hints as to who it wanted, but never actually choose. If a moment should pass where there was no care taker, then the Hourglass could shatter.

That's what the helpers kept in check. But now, the handler was a bit more feral than the others. Perfect by the standards of the Hourglass, but rough around the edges. The attachment that had been displayed by the newest handler was one of concern to one of the helpers.

Everyday, the shimmering glass heralded the happenings of the strange man with a blue box. Everyday, the new handler became evermore paranoid. After a certain fixed event, everything became fogged and nearly impossible to see what was to happen. Not only did this bother the handler, but the ever faithful companions and the Hourglass itself. Time should never be sheltered from the handler's view.

"His song is coming to an end."

"Never."

* * *

**I'm really trying to keep my character off the Mary Sue side, but please tell me if you liked it or not. Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Chapter 1

**And here the adventure begins...**

* * *

**Chapter One**

_Long before the hour of need, it shall appear. Long before the words of ancient are spoken, it shall appear. Long before the moment that could shatter the Hourglass of the universe forever, it shall appear. Watch for the signs. Watch for the warnings._

"What is that?" a distant voice called the Doctor out of his intense thoughts.

"What?" he turned to the blond beside him, following her finger to where she was pointing. "That's just an hourglass."

"I know what it is," Rose snapped. "But it wasn't there a minute ago. It just appeared there."

"Really?" the Doctor raised a brow, leaving his frantic browsing of the books on the shelf as he approached the metal hourglass mounted on the wall. It was beautiful and intricate, almost every grain of sand having been carefully carved into the brass. He reached inside his coat, fingers barely brushing his sonic screwdriver before a voice stopped him.

"Doctor, I believe that I've found something!"

At this he turned back to the owner of the house and to Queen Victoria. An hourglass that may or may not have been there a minute ago was going to have to wait. There was a werewolf running about.

* * *

"Alright, so if you lot didn't create the sphere then what's with the hourglass?" the Doctor questioned one of the Cybermen standing next to him, pointing to the ghosting shape of a hourglass in the rift. It was nothing more than white wisps that churned constantly.

"The hourglass has no origin with the Cybermen," it answered in a chilling metallic voice.

Rose was down with the sphere alongside with Mickey and one of the scientists. Much to all of their horrors, four Daleks had come out of the sphere when it cracked open. After their initial introductions with Rose being able to convince them not to exterminate the three of them, a strange happening occurred.

"What's with the hourglass?" Mickey questioned the black Dalek, jerking his head to the carving of the hourglass that had just appeared on the outside of the sphere.

"The hourglass is not of Dalek origin," it retorted sharply, rotating its eye stock to look up at the said figure, barely catching a glance of it as it melted back into the golden sphere.

"It's gone," Rose whispered, her brows furrowed in slight fear at the disappearing hourglass. "It's like it was never there."

* * *

The Doctor came to an abrupt halt at the corner of the hallway as two Judoon guards stalked passed, causing Martha to nearly crash into him. Once they were clear he sprinted down the next hallway and again came to a halt.

"What is it now?" Martha shouldered her way around him after nearly ramming into his back and found him staring at a bronze statue flanked by potted plants. "It's just a statue, now c'mon!"

"How long has that been there?" he asked carefully, laying a hand on the cold metal as if to actually make sure it was there. It was smooth with tiny bits of sand carved delicately into it.

"I don't know, we've got too many of them to keep track of," she paused, seeing the Doctor's face contort with worry, and maybe even a hint of fear. "Although, I've never seen one of an hourglass before."

* * *

The Doctor stared intently at the burning sun, feeling the heat of it on his face. His mind was starting the get heated, he could sense something about it. It was alive! The sun was a living object, and it was furious.

"No," he whispered as he started to heat up with a ferocious fire on the inside, making it feel as if his internal organs were beginning to flame. Before he turned his head away, there was a large spout of fire and light. It formed into a shape that he had come to fear whenever he saw it. The golden light of the sun even formed the sand in it as it fell through the shapely glass. "The hourglass."

* * *

"Donna, you just had to go and get yourself kidnapped didn't you?" the Doctor shook his head as he stalked through the dark night, trailing where the red head had been taken. He finally arrived to his destination, walking through the veil and taking in the sight before him. Everything was dimly lit by candles and volcanic vents, in which their eerie orange light echoed off of the bronze and marble statues around the cavernous room. His darting eyes landed on a statue made of marble and plated with gold. "No," his voice went hoarse as he approached it.

And the furious shouting of Donna broke the silence. He turned and lunged away, figuring that he better save his new companion than worry about an hourglass that seemed to be stalking him.

* * *

The giant wasp dropped down from the ceiling, blocking the door frame completely. The threesome before it stared at it in awe and horror before it lunged forward, its sting ready to kill. They ducked and its tail hit the wall. Turning around as they started to run, its wings bumped a table and several items fell off to shatter on the floor.

The Doctor turned his head sharply as a couple of glass valuables crashed to the floor. His looked at the wasp, the table, and the only item that hadn't shattered. Feet frozen to the spot, he was unable to move as the small hourglass rolled along the floor towards him. The sand inside was golden with silver flecks, and even seemed to glow. Jerking his head back up to the wasp, he realized that it was also staring at the hourglass curiously and almost fearfully. But that only lasted for a second before it returned its attention back to chasing him.

_Blood of silver, eyes of pine, and heart of ice holds the Hourglass with a gentle, yet bloody and battle hardened hand._

Snow fell lightly onto the ground, softening the sounds of the city of London. It was dark, the only light being provided by street lamps that cast reassuring shadows on the white snow. He crunched slowly back towards the blue box, his head spinning and every joint aching from the deadly dose of radiation. His feet faltered slightly, causing him to go on his knees in the snow. The coolness of the snow felt so good to his feverish flesh. Tilting his head towards a street lamp, his brown eyes caught sight of a mysterious creature standing in the street not that far off. It was an Ood.

_My song's come to its end,_ the Doctor thought sadly. A tear slipped from his eye at the thought of dying. He didn't want to die; he had so many years left in this tenth regeneration of his. There was so much more he could do! Time after time he had saved the Earth with its wonderful humans, and this is what he got in return. Death was not the ideal reward in his opinion. Looking back at the Ood, he got an odd feeling that something was bothering the creature. Its soft eyes looked a bit confused as a sudden gust of wind kicked up the snow around it. Its figure soon just disappeared into the night, leaving the Time Lord by himself.

He furrowed his brows in curiosity as something appeared in the churning snow. There was a feeling deep down in his gut. It was something that he had felt a few times, and it meant nothing but trouble. The wind picked up speed, howling into the lonesome night as the snow wisped into the figure of a shapely glass. The Doctor snapped his head up sharply as the lights on the street started to go haywire, the wind blowing harder throughout all of the streets of London. Standing up and teetering on his feet precariously, he glanced at the distant tower of Big Ben. His sharp eyes could just make out the hands of the clock spinning round and round in both directions.

"What?" he looked back to the hourglass of snow. There was a shadow behind it, slowly taking form. He closed the distance between him and the TARDIS, placing a hand reassuringly on the wooden doors. His hearts pounded in his ears and he could feel regenerating energy pulsing through his veins. He was in no shape for a confrontation. "What?" his voice raised an octave as the hourglass broke and the snow fell to the ground freely, revealing a very human form standing in the street. Everything went dead silent. Not even the usual nightlife of the city could be heard.

The Doctor didn't bother to finish with a last 'what', but instead unlocked the doors and stepped into the safety and warmth of his ship. Normally he would've stayed and faced whatever was coming at him, even if he was on the verge of regenerating. But whatever or whoever that was gave him a very bad, eerie feeling which he didn't like whatsoever. He turned to the control console, shrugging off his trench coat and throwing it on a fork in the coral like columns. Lifting up his hand and studying the back of it, a familiar golden glow started to emanate from his veins. Letting his hand fall to his side, he paced around the central column and flicked several switches on. The old ship groaned and shuddered as it took off into space, basically just orbiting the Earth for the moment. She wouldn't dare take off into the vortex at the moment, something was wrong and she could sense it.

The Time Lord clapped a hand over his ear at the sudden high pitched shriek that appeared in his mind. He glanced at the console, looking for any warning signs or alarms that could tell him why his beloved ship had just yelled at him telepathically.

"What's wrong old girl?" he whispered, grasping at his chest as the first wave of regeneration started to appear. "Please don't do this to me now." Again, the TARDIS was sending him sounds that he could usually understand. Now they were all just gibberish, grinding gears, and the wheezing of the centuries old engines. "What's wrong with you? Why are you so distressed? Just tell me, old girl!"

And the ship went silent. The central column stopped pumping up and down, the wheezing stopped, everything stopped. He could hear his hearts in his ears and his own labored breathing, but everything else was silent. Silent, except for an echo of his breathing, steady and calm against the doors.

The Doctor turned on his heel slowly, tilting his head up as he caught sight of someone standing against the doors. Now he knew why his ship was so upset; he could sense it too, deep down. There's no way this woman could have gotten inside without him hearing her. There's no way his ship would've let her get inside in the first place.

"Who are you?" he asked as he took a step back and bumped into the console. Carefully he laid his hands across the numerous buttons and switches, being cautious as to not flip the wrong one. Frost nipped at his fingertips as they touched the cold metal of the control panel, something that was usually warm with energy. "How'd you get on my ship?" he tried again when there was no answer. He was becoming painfully aware that he couldn't hold off his regeneration for much longer, for every muscle and every fiber of his being was burning and pulsing with pain. "Don't you know how to speak?"

The woman pushed off the wall and silently crept across the grating towards him, arms at her sides and a very cold air coming from her. The Doctor's breath fogged in the air like it would on a cool early morning in the England country side, and a sound similar to cooling metal came from the grated floor as the woman set down her feet softly as she came at him slowly.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" the Doctor questioned as he skirted around the edge of the console, putting a hand on his side to try and mute the pain. Still the woman said nothing, simply taking a matching step forwards. Almost leisurely, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Tell me now and I may be able to spare you from seeing or being harmed by what's about to happen."

She looked at him with one eye, the other being covered by her sterling silver hair. Her mouth opened and when she spoke her voice was gravelly and earthy, "I'm here to stop time from unraveling."

* * *

**Please remember to review! :)**


	3. Chapter 2

**And what is going on here?**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

The Doctor perked an eyebrow at her statement. _Stop time from unraveling…?_ He thought to himself. What was she getting at, or was she simply another person with a god complex? He had certainly had his fair share of those.

"What do you mean, to stop time from unraveling?" he asked slowly. A wave of pain hit him, causing him to lean against the console for support as his knees nearly buckled.

"I've seen the future," she took a step forward abruptly, one hand catching his arm and the other splaying out on his chest.

"What -" he was cut off as a horrible sensation racked his body. Suddenly his ship came alive, the humming and wheezing of the engines rattling the floor beneath him as he collapsed. He sucked in a painful breath as his muscles tightened around his ribs, "You've stopped the regeneration process!"

"Yes," she whispered, using one hand to support his head while the other stayed on his chest.

He clenched his teeth as it felt like ice was seeping through his bones and fighting off the heat of the regenerating power. Every spark of pain flared into a burning inferno, rendering him nearly paralyzed as whatever the mysterious woman was doing started to beat off his natural healing process.

"What are you doing?" he gasped and bit his tongue from crying out.

"I'm preventing you from regenerating and I'm forcing my healing onto you," she said quietly. A single drop of blood ran from her nose, sliding over her lips and down her chin. As he opened his mouth to speak again, she used her folded leg to support his head and put her hand over his eyes. "Hush," she ordered a bit harshly.

"That's not what I meant. What are you really doing?" he whispered as his breath shuddered from both fear and pain. The icy feeling started to seep through to his hearts, to his mind, and to his veins. He could feel it creeping up his spinal cord, leaving behind a trail of vicious pinpricks of horrific pain. Arching his back, he let go of his silence and screamed in pure agony.

"I'm rewriting history."

* * *

Everything was kind of fuzzy when he woke up. Blinking several times, the Doctor finally managed to realize that he was staring up at the ceiling of the TARDIS. It's funny how a good shock to your system can mess up your vision. He tilted his head to the side, groaning as his neck popped back into place. What was he lying on? What had happened?

As the fog slowly lifted from his mind, everything started to come back to him: the deadly dose of radiation, saying good-bye to Rose, the Ood, the hourglass, the strange woman, and then deathly pain everywhere before he lost consciousness. That was the moment it clicked in his brain that he was still laying on top of her leg.

"What are you?" he questioned aloud as he sat up, all his vertebrae popping back into place all up his back. He knew she was unconscious, but most of the time he just enjoyed listening to the sound of his own voice when he travelled without a companion, and even when he did travel with one. "Who could prevent a Time Lord from regenerating while healing him at the same time?"

There was no reply, just the soft breathing of the woman as her chest rose and fell. The Doctor put two fingers under her jaw and felt a steady, if a little fast, pulse thumping under his fingertips. Heaving a sigh and getting to his knees, he glanced down at her with a curious expression. She was leaning against the console, her head bent at an awkward angle. Gently he put a hand under her neck and laid her flat on the floor.

"A bit too cold for a human," he said, pressing the back of his hand against her forehead. With his fingertips he pushed aside a few black and silver strands of her hair, noticing a scar across her left eye. "A bit beat up, too," he added. "What are you, though? You're not human, at least not fully."

As if on cue, the woman tilted her head back and coughed. The only problem was that she didn't stop hacking. The Doctor swiftly got her into an upright position, feeling her chest shudder since he had her leaning against him.

"It's okay, just breath," he whispered soothingly as he rubbed one hand over her shoulders. Thankfully she stopped coughing.

The woman gave him a feeling of unease. It was like the feeling you get when you're in the forest and you know something's watching you, or like the unease you feel in the silence preceding a massive and devastating storm. His mind felt like it was being teased, having been given clues as to who she was but not being able to figure it out. It also felt like he couldn't quite see her clearly, like his vision was being shrouded from seeing her for what she truly was. Something was sitting in the very back of his mind, where he had buried his past.

"Please forgive me," he whispered as he put two fingers on her temples, delving passed the temporarily down mental barrier of her foremost memories and thoughts.

_Everything inside her mind was shrouded in a thick fog, like it had been pushed aside for very many years. The Doctor shoved passed the cloak and into the darkness of several memories. _

_ Blood splattered through the darkness, coating the woman's hands with stains that would last a lifetime. There was so much death, so much violence caused by her hands. He saw a thousand men fall by the sharp edge of her blade, saw her hands turn into the claws of a beast and tear men to pieces. He felt the pure fury and anger that pulsed through her every time she put men back into the ground from whence they came. The stench of blood, death, and ice was almost too much for him to handle. She had murdered, assassinated, and killed an impressive amount of people. The Doctor watched as a spray of blood and ice trickled down amongst the stars of the vast night sky. Frost crept across the ground at his feet, whispering in many tongues and shimmering with flecks of crimson and hoary flecks of sorrow and anger._

_ Rivers of tears flowed past him to unknown destinations. There was so much sorrow and pain and guilt. There was the constant stabbing and shredding pain of losing someone so dear to her, but whoever it had been was clouded and hidden from his sight by ancient armies and slain bodies of people who had tried to come at her. Guilt swirled like a thick mist around him. It was guilt for the men she had slain, for the one person that started it all, for the chaos worthy of the ancient gods of Egypt that she had caused, and for shaking the universe to its core. Yet, there was a spark of laughter at the feats she had achieved._

_ And then there was something so shrouded in mystery, fear, and respect that he could barely claw his way through its defenses to catch a glimpse of what it was. And what an almighty sight it was. Surrounded by hundreds of billions of stars and fog made of every emotion possible stood the towering Hourglass. Sand billions of years old shifted and pelted the inside of the smooth glass. Frost encrusted the glass on the outside, creeping across the polished wooden frame that held the shapely glass. Golden flecks of sand particles stuck to tears of ice as they ran down both the inside and outside of the Hourglass. There was a tumultuous storm caused by humans and aliens alike that thrashed the fine grains of sand in every direction. Huge black wings were beating midair beside the wooden frame, swirling and shoving aside the fog with soundless, effortless movements. This was the equilibrium of the entire universe. _

The Doctor pulled his fingers away like he had been burned. He blinked a few times, trying to rid his mind of the dead men that haunted the woman's brain. Never had he seen a mind that was so full of memories and pain, save for his own. But even then, that was too much for a full blooded human to handle. Humans, he had noticed, were very emotional about what they had seen and some things could burn their minds from the inside out. So that left him with the assumption that she was something else completely.

"Who are you?" his question was no longer inquiring about what she was, but _who_ she was. There was an image starting to form at the back of his mind of whom and what the woman was, but it was starting to drag up long buried memories of when his home world was alive. The pain was not something he wanted to deal with right now, so he shoved the reawakening memories back behind the mental barrier he had built. "Wake up, wake up, wake up! I just need to find out who you are and what you think you're doing, messing up the time stream and all that."

The air inside his ship was cold, ominous almost. There was a very unsettling, foreboding sensation that was nestling into his bones, raising the hairs on the back of his neck. Something was definitely wrong and he could sense it. Deep down he could feel the twisting and sickening pain when time was being bent out of shape, being forced to obey the hand of someone. History was indeed being rewritten.

He stood up, laying the woman gently on the grate floor. Glancing up at the pumping column of the central console, he laid a hand on the keyboard and swung the screen around to face him. Fingers flying faster than any secretary could ever dream of, the intricate computer system brought up several diagnostics that came from directly what the TARDIS was reading.

"Oh," he breathed out as he scrolled down through the delicate and incredibly beautiful words of his native language. His dark brown eyes narrowed as he read more of what his ship was coming up with. "Someone's playing God at the moment. The time vortex is in a state of confusion, trying to straighten itself out from something that put a major dent in it." The Doctor leaned against the console, chewing on his knuckle while taking in more of the very disturbing readings. As he read on, he couldn't tell whether the whole picture of what was going on got clearer or vaguer. "Strike the word 'major'. I think something along the lines of a dent the size of Asia in the stream of things is more appropriate. Future and past events are trying to reorganize themselves. Mind you, it's nothing too major. I don't think they're going to put anyone's history too out of whack. My regeneration couldn't have caused that big of a difference. There's something else, there's always something else. Now only if I can find it."

He looked down at the woman, debating whether or not he should try to get inside her head again. It wasn't worth it. In order to get to the part of her mind where that information _might_ be stored would mean he would have to push pass all of the pain and guilt and death for a second time. Tearing down the mental barrier that would most likely be around who and what she was would be like getting past a Dalek fleet without the TARDIS. The first time was bad enough, forget trying a second time.

"Oh, come on!" he ran his hands through his spiky hair in frustration.

* * *

**Remember to review! :)**


	4. Chapter 3

**Oh...big beasts and an Ood...exciting!**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

It was cold and the sun was beginning to fade into the sky. Snow sparkled in the dying light, creating the effect that the landscape had been covered in glitter. The sky was turning into a bloody red as the first signs of the Northern Lights started to shine through the oppressive darkness.

Pine trees laden with snow stretched out their shadows, reaching for the creatures of the Alaskan wilderness. It was so cold. With night came the coldest hours of the fall, chasing the creatures into shelters and burrows. It chased them with claws of death and teeth of ice. The night chased all of the creatures, like the bear, the moose, the fox, the wolverine, and even the wolves. The night chased everything, except for a pair of thickly furred monsters that stalked through the darkening forest.

Both creatures felt the disturbance that had erupted. There was a wound that had been inflicted into the natural progression of things and both of them could sense it deep down in their large, powerful hearts.

One of the monsters stopped, mouth partly open as it took in the scents in the air. Silver whiskers shimmered in the starry light as it shook its head. Giant paws crunched across the snow, warning small animals of the pair's approach. It was silent as the two beasts kept walking through the thick trees, pausing every few steps to scent the air.

There was a certain chill to the air that night. There was something that was unsettling the pair; something that was not only bothering them, but the time stream as well. And although neither of the creatures could speak to the other, it was clear that they knew what was going on. Something was toying around with one of the most delicate things in the universe, something that they had become very familiar with.

The Northern Lights danced across the inky black sky as night settled in fully. The larger of the beasts stopped walking, simply sitting down and gazing up at the billions of stars. Everything was so peaceful at that moment. Its breath fogged the chilly air, fading away to the heavens within a few seconds. Pinks and greens reflected in its glassy light blue eyes as it stared up at the sky, the dark pupils dilating in the gloom. Its mate sat down beside it, doing much of the same thing.

A haunting call echoed through the forest that night. Both beasts raised their muzzles into the frosty atmosphere, letting a growling hum come from both of their throats.

Several caribou lifted their heads up, ears pricked forward. The young cows gathered their calves closer to them while the bulls snorted, turning around to gather their herd and move them far away from the creatures. They knew that call all too well. Many times they had heard that call. Something was going to die soon.

* * *

Ood Sigma sat quietly, staring into the fire that crackled and snapped in the dark. Everything was a jumbled mess now. The lyrics of their ancient and fixed songs were moving and being changed. They were to sing him to his sleep, were they not?

And yet, time was telling them no. No, something had changed in the stream of things. Which did not bother Ood Sigma all that much. He liked the Doctor, enjoyed his company and the brilliant things he and his companions did for the universe. But, he should have fallen asleep in death.

Why had everything changed? The Hourglass had never changed its mind so suddenly, so without reason. History was known to rewrite itself around certain events, yes, but this was different.

Stories had been passed through generations of Ood of how he died saving the universe from his own people, only to be rewarded with death while a different man walked away from what he used to be. Of how what he used to be was forgotten.

Stories of the cracks and the Silence once had been told every night by the Ood Elders. Tales of a woman named River Song abounded. She had created so many stories to tell, and she was the wife of the Doctor. Amelia and Rory Pond had caused a ripple in the universe with their influence over the Pandorica. Later, the Doctor's reputation had been removed from time itself and not one species could recall his legends.

But now, a new story was starting. It was about the Hourglass and the perseverance of a hybrid woman, of the love of the Doctor and the countless aliens he's going to meet that he would have never met. Truth be told, Ood Sigma was starting to like this story, for it was full of twists and complications, secrets and bloody pasts. Also, there was one more thing about it.

It was the beginning of a brand new song.

* * *

**I really like the bit with Ood Sigma. Did you? Is there anything that could be written better? I am totally open to suggestions. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing! :)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Okay, this is where the _real_ fun begins. :)**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

"Yes! I could do that!" the Doctor spun on his heel, turning back to his computer. There was a program that he had installed in the TARDIS, but he hardly ever used it. It was something along the line of AFIS, but instead of using fingerprints this program used anything you could put into it. Whether it was a strand of hair, a drop of blood, or anything from the person in question, it could find his, hers, or its identification. It had been years since he had used it, the last time having gotten him into trouble with the Museum of the Last Ones.

The Doctor crouched down next to the woman, pushing a few stray hairs out of her face. _All I need is one small strand, just one strand,_ he thought as he ran his fingers through her long bangs, taking a few hairs gently between two fingers.

Her hand shot up from her side, her long fingers curling around him and securing his wrist in an iron grip. He yelped and fell backwards on his rump, totally having not unexpected for her to wake up.

"Don't even think about it," she whispered, using her hold on him to pull herself upright.

"Ah, now you decide to wake up," he smirked at her, though his tone said otherwise. "May I have my arm back?" he asked as he tugged on his still trapped wrist.

"You may," she released him, using her hand to run her fingers through her hair. She looked at him, her pine green eyes a bit unfocused. "How long was I out?"

"Um…I'd take a guess and say about ten minutes, but I don't know how long I was out," the Doctor answered with a shrug, folding his arms over his knees. "Who are you?"

"First things first," she replied as she held her hand out to him. For a moment he looked confused, but soon placed his hand in hers. She put two fingers on his wrist, leaving him with the assumption that she was checking his pulse. "I'm not an expert on your anatomy, but I think your hearts are still a bit out of synch. I'd take a stab and say that you were out for about two hours."

"Well, my hearts aren't supposed to be perfectly in synch…" he trailed off, catching a glint in her dark eyes. "And that's not quite what you meant. Never mind. Now then, it's my turn. Who are you? Or better yet, what are you?"

"Frost," she half closed her eyes, letting her voice create the cold atmosphere that her name suggested. "As to what I am, figure it out by yourself, Time Lord."

"I was about to do that before you woke up," he said, holding up one small strand of hair between two fingers. "Let's find out who and what you are!"

Frost leaned against the railing along the floor, letting her arms drape over her knees as she watched the man dance around the central console. For having been near death just a mere few hours ago, he certainly was very lively. And he was talking nearly a hundred miles an hour.

"….just got to push this button here," he said as he reached across the controls to press a flashing button. "And then I've just got to pull this lever and… here we go!"

The TARDIS made a series of clicks and whirrs as it read the strand of hair. The Doctor looked down at the woman, smiling a very big and goofy grin. He swung the monitor around to face him, waiting anxiously for the results. Frost smirked a bit, letting her amusement be known verbally. Deep vibrations came from within the centuries old engines, rattling the grate floor.

"I don't think you're going to find anything," she whispered.

"Oi! The TARDIS may be a bit old and rickety, but she'll find out who you are," the Doctor patted his ship affectionately as he spoke. "Her processor's still running strong and -"

The lights flickered until it was nearly pitch black in the ship. An ominous orange color seeped around the central column, casting shadows across the coral like columns. Silence crept through the air, making it thick with almost electrifying traits. The Time Lord whipped his head around to the monitor, his eyes lighting up with the intricate symbols that cropped up nonstop, some of them flashing with warning hues.

"What are you?" he questioned, turning on his heel to glare down at her.

There were sparks of fury in his dark brown eyes as well as a hint of fear as she gazed up at him with a steady look. To her, it seemed as if his mood was a bit intemperate. She held her silence for a while, driving him mad. There was nothing more amusing to her than seeing him question her about what he already knew.

"You know what I am," Frost looked off to the side. Her sterling hair fell over her shoulders and shielded the right part of her face from view.

The Doctor let himself stare at her for a few moments. It felt as if his mind was being deceived, being tickled and teased from seeing the whole picture. Time was being bent and broken, that much he was sure of. Perhaps time was starting to undo itself, starting to unfold and unwind. Maybe his feeling of being tricked was just his Time Lord instincts kicking in and telling him that this was not natural. It was few and far in between that he came across cases that could, or were, damaging the time stream as badly as he suspected in this instant.

"I may not know now, but I will find out," he crouched down so he was eye level with her. She turned to look at him, her dark pine green eyes cold and icy. "And when I find out what you are and what you're doing, I'm going to stop you. You can't make time bend to your will just because you feel like it! I was supposed to…." He trailed off a bit, being the one to turn his head away this time. Dying had been so close within reach, and it still stung at the moment when he thought of how he had almost slipped away from life. "The Ood foretold my death. They were years ahead of right now and they knew what was going to happen on this day. This was a fixed point that was supposed to happen, and you've stopped it. You can't just go around and stop important events whenever you feel like it!"

"But I can," she said very simply.

The orange light glinted off her dark eyes, creating an almost menacing illusion. He held her gaze, shifting on his haunches slightly as he studied the emotion in her eyes. The silence that moved about the control room allowed his keen senses to drift outwards towards the woman and analyze what was going on. Her breath was cool on his face as she inhaled and exhaled slowly and steadily. She was clam, no nervous twitches or actions gave any indication that she was lying.

"I thought that since I was the last of the Time Lords that I could too, but look at where that got me," he deadpanned as he stood up, turning his back on her and flipping various switches on the console.

"But I'm not a Time Lord," she whispered, carefully watching him as his shoulders slumped a bit as he leaned over the controls of his ship.

The central column started to pump up and down slowly at first before it gained some speed. It stayed the same orange color that it had started to display a minute ago. The Doctor glanced up at the column with a suspicious look, taking his eyes off it a moment to peer at the monitor screen. Everything had gone blank, literally leaving him in the dark as to what his ship was doing. She wasn't even speaking to him telepathically.

The floor jolted. Frost scrambled to get to her feet as the TARDIS tilted up on one side like a ship being bashed around in a high seas storm. The Doctor rammed into her as he lost his grip on the console. She hissed as his elbow connected solidly with her ribs.

"Sorry," he said as he bounced back up and reached for the console. He gripped the handrail as his ship tilted the other way. This time it was Frost who crashed into his gut.

"Sorry," she said in feigned apology much like he had earlier.

The ship groaned as it came in for one hell of a rocky landing….

* * *

The air inside the warehouse was still and chilly from the outside air that seeped in through various cracks up by the thick rafters. Rows upon rows of crates were stacked on top of each other, effectively creating a maze in the silent building.

A sudden breeze appeared from thin air as a rumbling, thumping sound echoed throughout the abandoned warehouse. The TARDIS materialized high above the ground, taking out several unfortunate crates that were on the top of the rows. It landed with a tremendous thud, coming to rest against a few splintered pieces of wood and a back wall.

A low groan came from within the doors of the blue box. Frost took a deep breath, trying to get her bearings straight. Eventually she came to realize that she was on her back against the doors. The ground beneath her moved a bit, causing her to turn and look at where she was laying. Hot breath brushed her face as she glanced up at the Doctor.

The Doctor had known something was wrong when his ship went haywire, and he had tried to brace for impact. He didn't exactly remember much from then until now. All he knew at the moment was that he could feel extra weight on top of him. His hearts were beating in a steady rhythm and he could feel another heart thumping along with his. That's when he concluded that Frost must have been sprawled across him.

"Hello," he mumbled. His hand grazed hers as he started to sit up, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's the second time that's happened today. Well, last time I woke up on top of you."

"You're not exactly the most comfy thing to land on," Frost stood up and ran a hand through her sterling hair, rocking back and forth on her heels for a moment before she regained her balance. She offered her hand to him, helping him to his feet. "You're all twiggy and have no meat on your bones."

"Oi!" the Doctor shot her a glare as he grabbed his trench coat and shrugged it on before stepping outside the doors. "Are you coming?"

Frost crossed her arms and followed him out, instantly knowing that they were in a warehouse when her bare feet touched the cold concrete floor. It was dead silent, save for the quiet buzz of the lights far above their heads.

"Want to take a gander at where we are?" the Doctor asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets and staring up at the small windows along the top of the building.

"Siberia or Alaska," Frost answered with a shrug. "Wherever we are, it's abandoned."

"That's it? You're not even going to ask why it's abandoned?" he strode over to her, his brows perked curiously. "Blimey, I don't think I've met anyone who's never wanted to ask questions. You didn't even think it was strange that my ship was just a wee bit bigger on the inside."

"Okay then, why is the warehouse deserted?" she tilted her head up, amusement sparkling in her dark eyes.

"Well, let's find out," he said as he took long strides over to a corkboard that was peppered with sticky notes and memos.

Frost followed him, walking silently on her feet. She let out a low, approving whistle at the immense size and clutter of the board. A few pictures were tacked here and there, showing what must have been the workers out on trips in the wintry wonderland.

"Ah ha, I think we have our answer as to why this place is abandoned," the Doctor pulled a handwritten note off of the board, scanning it quickly. His brow furrowed and his face pulled taught as he finished the letter. "This is definitely why nobody is here anymore."

She took the proffered note from him, reading down through it. Certain keywords stuck out to her, sending a shiver down her spine. Dark red splatters dotted the old and faded paper. She looked up at him, trying to hide the frantic worry that she was sure had just appeared in her face.

"We shouldn't be here," she said slowly as she stuck the letter back onto the board. "We should go."

"Can't," was all he said in reply. Her face fell into the look of unimpressed and slightly panicked. "The TARDIS is repairing herself. It'll take about an hour or two before she's ready to fly again. That is, considering, that she'll even fly with you on board. If she doesn't fly, then I guess you'll have a long way to walk back home."

"You have no idea," Frost groaned, her American accent dripping from her words.

"Well, since we're stuck here, why don't we take a better look at where we are?" he turned away, letting his gaze drift upwards to the stacks of crates with black stenciled letters on them.

"You're going to use this time to try and figure what I am, aren't you?" she questioned, following close behind him.

"Oh yes," he smirked and glanced at her over his shoulder. "So, you're not fully human, but I can't tell what the other part of you is. You're very well disguised with tech not from Earth. And you're very powerful, considering that you got inside my ship midflight."

Frost nodded at the not fully human part as she caught up to him. He looked across at her, scanning her up and down.

"You must have a high tolerance to cold," he said. "How can you not be cold in a belly shirt and jeans while being bare foot?"

"There's a reason I'm called Frost," she gave him a humorless smile, revealing fangs in place of normal canines. She paused for a moment, cocking her head to the side much like an animal would. "You hear that?"

The Doctor stopped and stretched his senses outwards. There was a scuffling somewhere amongst the crates, something moving around in the maze of boxes. He shared a look with Frost before she split off in one direction while he went the opposite way.

Silence filtered through the air as she crept around a corner of one of the crates. Her feet came to a quiet halt as she tilted her head again; listening for the same sound she had heard earlier. So many years had gone by her, her senses getting sharper every time another year passed her by. When in doubt, she relied on her hearing. Nothing ever got by her. Except for the shadow that had just ran into the aisle a crate down from her.

"You have got to be kidding me," she hissed, following close behind whatever had just dashed the dark maze. Her nerves were on edge as it was, but considering that her senses should have been heightened. But she was keeping an ear out for the Doctor, making sure that he didn't get himself into trouble.

The shadow popped out from around a corner, its hand connecting solidly with Frost's jaw. She fell, temporarily winded. With an irritated growl, she kicked out and swept the shadow's legs out from under it. She was up in an instant, a knife in her hand and at the man's neck.

"Gah, I'm gettin' old," Frost grumbled, wiping away a bit of dark red blood with the back of her hand from her lip. "So, you gonna tell me who you are?"

"A worker," he answered as his voice quivered. "You're not authorized to be here and one can't be too careful…."

"Nah, you were scared that it was one of the beasts come to get ya," Frost smirked and backed up, sheathing her knife. She crossed her arms and looked the man up and down. "Last survivor?"

"What? What do ya mean?" he asked as he brushed the dirt from his heavy jacket.

"The note on the board gave you away," she replied.

"Ah, that," he shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I can't get out, not that winter's hit. The roads are blocked and there's no fuel left for the snowmobiles or Cats. Wait, how did you get in here?"

Frost didn't answer, just looked at him coldly with her eyes half closed. She took a step back, motioning for him to follow her. He did so, but very slowly. She could sense that he was still very nervous, but he was craving human company. Every emotion rolled off him in waves and hit her like the ripples in a pool would. She stuck two fingers in her teeth and whistled.

"There's a survivor still left," she called out, hearing her voice bounce off of the crates.

The Doctor appeared from around the side of one of the crates. He smirked a bit at the sight of the disheveled man standing next to the woman. Perhaps now they could get to the bottom of what this monster was.

"So, only one left then? That's got to be a bit lonely, hasn't it?" he asked. Little thoughts trickled in the back of his mind on how he knew firsthand what it was like to be the only one left, but at least the man knew he wasn't the only human left alive. "How long have you been alone?"

"Four months," the man blew out a breath in irritation. "The storms are too bad for any machinery to get through to get out here, and nothing here has any fuel to run. Radios have been out since the creature started attacking, and the food supply's running low."

"Well, I can get you out of here once my vehicle's repaired," the Doctor said with a smile. "What can you tell me about the attacks?"

"Started 'round 'bout five months ago," the man sat on one of the smaller crates, rubbing the back of his neck. The look in his eyes and his posture suggested that it was a hard story to retell. "A few men just kept disappearing when they'd take machinery out. Whenever we'd go look for them, we'd just find the Cats still running and the guys nowhere in sight. The disappearances started getting closer to home base, until one day we all saw Tom just get hit like a ton of bricks at the bay door. He had just opened it and then _wham_! There wasn't even a sound, he got hit so fast. Panic spread like wildfire and everyone scattered, searching for the guns, but it was too late. You'd never hear it comin' and then it'd be right behind you. The only one that went down fightin' was Jesse, one heck of a shot, that boy was. He got off a few rounds with the 9mm and one with the 10 gauge. That thing just wouldn't die and took off runnin' with Jesse in its jaws."

"How'd you manage to survive?" Frost questioned gruffly.

"Hid down in the storage room," he admitted with a pitiful and guilty look. "Once it was clear I locked down all the doors."

"Did you ever get a good look at it?" the Doctor asked softly. The man turned and looked him in the eye with a hard stare.

"You ever see a tiger hunt?" he deadpanned.

"Yeah, once or twice," the Doctor nodded, and glanced at Frost. Her eyes were narrowed and she was nodding as well.

"Imagine a tiger that was nearly ten foot at the shoulders with horns like a ram and with indigo fur and neon spots," the man said.

"Interesting," the Doctor glanced down at the ground a moment, the gears in his mind turning in haste. "A feline like creature with horns… That sounds familiar."

Frost was also concentrating, but not on what the man had said. She tipped her head to the side, trying to cloud out the noises of the Doctor thinking out loud. The wind was blowing outside, coming in gusts and then stopping for a few seconds before picking up again. Creaking and popping came from the steel of the warehouse as it cooled down in the snowstorm. Amongst the natural sounds of the tempest, the sound of life stirred. The sound of breath as it fogged the nippy air and the sound of large paws went hand in hand.

"Shhh…." Frost held her hand up, glancing at the Doctor. Now that silence had fallen, she could most definitely hear pacing somewhere in the crates. And by the look that the skinny man was giving her, he could hear it too. The only one left in the dark was the lone survivor.

Silence was always the first sign that something was about to go wrong. At least, that's what the Doctor had always thought. And as he snapped his head up at a groaning from the crates, it proved to hold true once again. He yelled out and jumped out of the way when the boxes tumbled down and shattered on the floor as a large creature leapt from the top of them.

It landed on all fours, muscles rippling beneath a thick indigo pelt as it impacted. A long tail swept out behind it, the tip twitching as it eyed up the three people with violent steel blue eyes. Its power was unmatched in this world, a single paw alone being the size of a human head and its jaws capable of crushing a ribcage.

All the people scattered as it shot out a paw and claws like giant thorns slid out of their sheaths. Letting out a terrifying roar, it sprang after one of them.

"Doctor!" Frost screeched, coming to a halt behind a crate.

"A little busy!" the answer came back as she caught sight of the man run down a row of crates with the beast hot on his tail.

She growled, quickly scanning the area for anything that'd be useful as a weapon. Her knife was a toothpick compared to the creature. No, she needed something much bigger and more solid. A brief smirk passed over her face as she found what she needed lying amongst the wreckage of the crates.

The Doctor slid across the floor as he took a sharp corner. If he hadn't been running for his life, he might have found it humorous how the creature failed to turn on a dime and instead fell onto its side, sliding into a stack of crates that gave way and crashed to the concrete floor. It got up and shook itself off before dashing down the aisle that the Doctor had gone down.

"Persistent, aren't you?" he yelled over his shoulder. The creature bared enormous fangs at him and growled.

He felt the tips of its claws reach out and barely brush him before the beast retracted its paw and looked up. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Frost jumping off a crate with a pipe held above her high above her, the muscles in her arms straining to keep it aloft. The weapon connected solidly with the creature's head, and they both came skidding to a halt.

"That was either brave or dumb," the Doctor said as Frost stood up and brushed dirt off her bloodied elbows.

"Saved you, didn't I?" she grumbled and bent down to look at the creature better. "Well, you're the alien expert. What is it?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, bending down and examining its head as well. "It's built like a feline, so it's probably from the far corner of the universe, somewhere by Negatheria and over in that cluster of planets would be my guess."

"What's it doing here?" she asked.

"Probably was exiled, or crash landed," he suggested. "However, it doesn't seem sentient enough to pilot a ship, so I'd say it was deliberately put here."

"Kind of like putting a mongoose in with a bunch of garter snakes to just see how it'd play out," Frost chuckled slightly, earning a stern look from the Doctor. "Humans don't know how to handle something like this yet."

"Yeah," he stood up, shoving his hands down into his pockets. "Probably should take it home, though. That is, considering I can figure out where its home is."

Frost opened her mouth to respond when out of the corner of her eye she caught its ear rotate. Maybe that knock on the head wasn't as effective as she had first thought. Standing up, she was about to issue a warning when one eye shot open. Both she and the Doctor were quick to react, jumping to either side as it reached out with a massive paw, but she wasn't the one to receive the hit. The Doctor stumbled to the ground as the creature stood up and barely looked down at him before lunging with its mouth wide open.

She screamed, but the threat fell on deaf ears as the creature bounded away with a flailing Doctor in its mouth. Getting to her feet as fast as she could, she followed the retreating tail of the creature until they wound up at a wall. Before she got there, she could hear the tin shifting and arrived just in time to see the tip of its tail disappear through a massive tear in the wall.

"I disturbed the Hourglass," she whispered, baring her fangs in defiance. "But I'm not letting you fix it."

* * *

**Da da da! And there goes the Doctor, getting himself into trouble once again. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)**


	6. Chapter 5

**Who are these characters?**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Golden grains of sand bit into the sides of the frosted glass as a gale blew within the Hourglass. The large black wings above it shuddered, shoving the fog out of the way with powerful strokes to reveal the night sky with its myriads of stars. Ice pricked its way across the frame of the monstrous time keeper, melting and freezing in an endless cycle.

Red eyes stared through the presumably unbreakable glass, watching as lightning struck into the sand. The particles melted with the color of blood, leaking and webbing down through the rest of time. Again and again the lightning struck, leaving patches of crimson amongst the vast desert of time. The watching eyes narrowed as a hairline fracture appeared as a final strike of lightning hit with thunder following soon after. Frost and ice started to weave their way from the crack, edging out across the rest of the glass.

"The Ood had the correct time, brother," the face holding the eyes spoke softly, but loud enough that his voice echoed through the ancient cavern.

"His death leads to the end of the universe," another male voice replied.

"Blood of silver, eyes of pine, and heart of ice," the first one growled. "She was supposed to make sure that his death took place. You know that's what was supposed to take place after his regeneration."

"The Keeper of the Hourglass makes sure that the glass does not shatter," the second male chided gently. His baritone voice rang out clearly in the cavern as he came to stand beside his brother. "The universe would end if he died."

"The universe would be saved if he died," the first replied sternly. Both creatures stood elegantly with their eyes cast up to the tumultuous storm brewing in the upper half of the glass. "All have to follow the rules of time."

"Rules are made to be broken," the second said.

"Rules are meant to be bent when the Hourglass is in dire need of it," the first inhaled sharply and snorted. "Time was going according to itself, but now that she's interfered a fracture has appeared."

"When a bone breaks, you must re break it to set it right," the second said gently.

"He was breaking time," the first spat. "When there is a rock on the arm, you remove it and then the bone may heal."

"Brother, you have turned a blind eye to the great deeds this man has done and has yet to do," the second raised his muzzle to the Hourglass, the lightning of the gale reflecting off the red of his irises.

"No, you have turned a blind eye to the trouble that he causes," the first bared white teeth and fangs in a snarl. "He plays with time, using it for his own enjoyment. The ones he travels with have become privy to things that they should not know, and the majority die from his foolishness."

"How is he much different than what we do?" the second asked.

"We observe time, make sure it stays on track," the first whispered, laying the large ears on his head back. "She manipulates time to fix the errors that he causes. Whenever he's done, I have to send her back to correct what he undid."

"She does not only work for you, brother," the second said with a tinge of smugness in his voice.

The first turned to face him, eyes narrowed and teeth bared. "You have sent her to disrupt time?"

"Just as you have done when it is called for," the second nodded calmly. "I have seen that she wears the necklace of you, but I was the one who raised her and she also carries the Dagger of Aapep from me."

"Fair argument, brother," the first exhaled slowly and straightened his posture. "But I will set the time stream right."

"She will not allow you to do that," the second brought out. "She has a deep connection with him, and she feels that she owes him her life."

"Her memory serves her too well," the first shook his head. "It was very many years ago that happened, and yet she still feels indebted to him."

"She feels no debt," the second snorted. "She feels the need to pull him out of his insanity and back to the former glory he had when she first met him."

"She looks at him with a look that I have not seen in a long time," the first smiled darkly. "If her sister were still alive, then she would make sure the time stream was set right."

"Cleopatra does not need to be brought into this," the second grumbled, laying his long ears back. "She does not have feelings for him as you imply. You still treat her as a heart broken child, and she is far older than that. She knows that what she's doing is going to save the universe and time itself."

"She is mistaken," the first sighed. He turned and started to stalk off into the dark, being accompanied by smaller creatures with lanterns hanging off their antlers.

"What extremes would you go to, Acheron?" the second shouted at his brother's retreating back. His red eyes glimmered in the faint light of the lanterns as the creatures turned and followed their master.

"I won't leave the matter be until I have seen the life leave his body for good," Acheron answered and glanced over his shoulder. "She can try to stop me, but we both know that time can't be kept from progressing forever, Anubis."

* * *

**Well then. Acheron and Anubis. Intrigued yet? Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)**


	7. Chapter 6

**And back to getting the Doctor back...**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"Supplies!" Frost flung the man up against one of the crates. She had been having one heck of a fight with him, trying to convince him that she could indeed save the Doctor. Right now, she was spitting blood from a vicious hit to the face that was bound to bruise later. "I need them now!"

"You're crazy! You can't go out there!" the man sputtered and choked as the cold hand holding him against the crate tightened. "You're friend is dead!"

"Have you ever seen the extremes a mother grizzly will go through to get to her cubs?" she leaned in close, ice and blood on her breath. Her fangs flashed menacingly in the artificial light far above their heads and her dark eyes delivered a clear threat promising certain death. "I will go through anything and anyone that is between me and him."

The man opened and closed his mouth a few times, but finally sighed. "They're in the closet in the office."

Frost released him and bounded off towards the stairwell. The man was following close behind her, still trying to sway her that there was no way in heaven or hell that her friend was still alive. Then again, she was never one to be told that something was impossible. Ever since she was a little girl, she had seen impossible things and had never stopped to ask if they were real or not. The man's babbling started to drag her back to reality as she hefted up a backpack and began filling it with supplies.

"Even if he is alive, you'll have to kill that thing to get to him!" the man waved his hand frantically towards the broken crates far down below.

She paused a moment, her eyes dark and sparking with memories. "If I have to kill it, so be it."

"You are crazy," the man muttered and settled on just watching her pack the supplies she was going to need. Lots of medical supplies were stuck in there along with two bottles of water and an extra coat. The woman also tucked a magnesium stick in her pants pocket and shrugged on a long coat. "Have you ever shot one of those before?"

Frost glared at him as she tucked a 9mm in the back of her pants and shrugged her Osprey backpack on. She completed her gear by grabbing one of the 10gauges and pushed passed the man. Her bare feet barely made a sound as she thundered down the stairs to the ground floor.

"Aren't you gonna wear shoes?" the man yelled down at her.

For a second she looked up at him, and he swore he saw her image flicker just a little bit. And after a few moments, he was completely alone again in the abandoned warehouse.

* * *

The beast dropped the struggling Doctor into the snow and growled at him. He stumbled to his feet and once again tried speaking to the creature that had carried him clear out into the wilderness.

"Now, now, easy there," he said softly and sternly. The indigo beast flexed its shoulders and swished its tail, shifting around in the snow as he spoke to it. "No need to get violent. I wasn't the one that came after you."

The Doctor took a few steps back, putting some distance between him and the beast. In rebuttal the creature pulled its lips back and hissed. The white whiskers on its face swayed in the wind as it blew through the clearing surrounded by trees. The steel blue eyes watched him carefully, not daring to give him any time to make a break for it.

"What are you, then?" the Doctor questioned, slowly reaching down into his pocket. His fingertips brushed the sonic screwdriver as he kept speaking to the creature. "Are you some sort of experiment? Or are you just lost on an unfamiliar planet?"

The creature lashed out with one paw, hunching down into the snow much like a cat would. The Doctor ducked out of the way of the large claws, pulling out his sonic before the creature could get closer. The tip glowed blue as the pitch of the sound got higher until it reached the correct frequency. A disturbed growl came from the creature as it buried its head beneath its large paws, trying to block the noise out by shoving its head down into the snow.

"Sorry, big guy," the Doctor mumbled as the creature thrashed around in the snow, blood beginning to run down the sides of its head from its inner ears. He flicked the sonic off and returned it to his coat pocket, frowning at the unconscious creature breathing heavily in the bloodied snow in front of him. "Well, I s'pose I should get back to the warehouse and see if I can get the TARDIS out here to pick you up and take you somewhere where you'll cause less trouble."

The Time Lord placed his hands in his pockets and picked his way back to the trail the creature had made. He couldn't see the warehouse from this distance, but from the time it took the beast to run out here, he figured he'd have to walk for about half an hour before he got back.

Snow blew around him in gusts, speckling his spiky hair with white snowflakes and teasing his long coattails. The wind whistled in the trees and his breath fogged the cold air, but he seemed oblivious to the frosty weather. Right now his attention was being focused on a large shadow that was gradually becoming darker. His first gut instinct told him to run, but his mind reminded him that the shadow was blocking his way to the warehouse. Well, running was still a good idea.

Large paws hit the snow softly and came to a halt as the creature saw a shadow take off running in the opposite direction. It bounded for a few steps and came to see that the larger shadow lying in the snow was its mate, and that the one running off was their prey. Light blue eyes narrowed and ears laid back, the creature lurched into a run after the fading shadow.

Frost shook her head once or twice, trying to get rid of the ringing in her ears. She didn't think the sound from his sonic screwdriver could travel that far, but she had sure heard it when he used it. That gave her the reassurance that he was still alive, but also worried her.

"Two different gaits," she whispered when she looked down at the tracks. One set was definitely running, sending bits and chunks of snow flying. The other, however, was steadier and more likely just trotting. If he didn't know that, then there was still a chance that one of them might bring him down.

She pushed her sterling hair behind one ear, glancing up at the snow blown land. The sun was nowhere to be seen, but light still trickled down through the fog and cloud. Also, there was another light bounding through the trees ahead of her.

"Oh no you don't," she hissed and broke into a run to beat the lanterns.

The Doctor grabbed a tree limb and made a 90 degree turn, kicking up snow with his heels. He glanced over his shoulder, wide eyes darting to and fro to look for his pursuer. Nothing, he couldn't see or hear anything, save for the frantic beating of his own two hearts. His brow furrowed as he searched harder for whatever had been chasing him, his steps slowing down just as he came to the lip of a cliff.

"Well, that was a bit lucky," he said slowly, glancing down the gray wall into the snow covered trees below. "Now then, silence is never a good thing. Come on, I know that you're there somewhere."

A responding moan that could be likened to a lion's came from the trees as the shadow appeared, stalking quietly on large paws. This creature was different, its pelt being mottled various shades of blue, black, and gray and it lacked horns atop its head unlike the other creature. It was just as big as the other, though, and bared large fangs in a snarl.

The Doctor turned his back on the cliff, reaching inside his coat pocket again with slow movements. However, this time the creature took note of this and struck out with one front paw. He yelped and jumped away from the cliff, skidding on his knees in the snow. A powerful swing bowled him away from the edge, but snatched his breath away as his back cracked against a tree.

"Ah, cheeky devil," he hissed, sucking in a painful breath and getting to his feet again.

A spray of snow went up as the creature sprang toward him, letting out a warning growl. He ducked and rolled out of the way as the large paw swung at him again, connecting solidly with the trunk of the tree. The Doctor glanced back as he bolted away, seeing the creature's claws stuck in the bark. The beast yowled and tugged on its trapped paw, snarling and snapping its teeth in his direction as his shadow began to fade away in the fog and snow.

His adrenaline level fully spiked now, the Doctor paused a moment to get his bearings straight. He turned a little bit North and started running again, hoping to at least get to the warehouse where there was a better chance of making a stand. The chill in the air burned his throat as he ran on, snowflakes stinging his face and eyes all the way. It was lonely clear out there in the Alaskan wilderness, and silent. The silence was probably the most eerie thing that struck the Doctor. He was used to noise and the panting of a companion running alongside him. But now, he was running alone.

He heard it before he saw it. There was one heavy crunch in the trail behind him before he went down. A few flecks of blood splattered in the clean snow next to him as he lifted his head and shook the flakes from his hair and eyes. As he rolled onto his back, he saw the creature shake its bloody paw a few times before returning its attention to him. At best, he could figure that it had torn a claw or two out in its attempt to get free from the tree.

The Doctor already had his hand half way into his pocket to get his sonic out when the beast lunged down at him. He pulled his arm up and braced himself for the impact. His pained cry rang out in the icy no-man's-land as large teeth smashed into his forearm, the canines tearing through his coat and jacket down into his flesh. A deep throated growl came from the creature, a dangerous look flashing in its light blue eyes. He heard a crack come from his arm as the beast bit down and pulled back, lifting its head up to glare down at him with blood staining the gray hairs on its chin.

"What did I do to you?" the Time Lord questioned and stood up slowly, cradling his torn up arm to his chest. "I can take you home! I can get you off this planet and back to your home world if you'd just let me!"

Silence seeped amongst the two aliens as the larger one almost seemed to consider this offer for a moment. However, the Doctor knew better and stepped back, reaching into his coat pocket with his good arm. The silence broke as the creature laid its ears back and its pupils narrowed into barely visible slits at his movement.

The Doctor ducked and feigned, constantly edging back towards the trees while he manipulated the sonic into the right frequency. His face showed no mercy as the creature shook its head and moaned an awful sound, blood starting to trickle down from one ear and web through its long fur. It buried its face into the snow, its tail lashing in distress and frustration. Snow was pushed aside as its large hind paws kicked out, the thorn like claws unsheathing as it fought to block out the annoying sound.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor sighed, waiting for the beast to finally lose consciousness. It hadn't started writhing on the ground like the other did, which should've been his first clue to move out of the way.

With an almighty kick of its back legs, the creature bulldozed its front through the snow and knocked the Time Lord over. Now that the ringing had stopped, it lifted up its head and shook it vigorously, sending blood flying into the trees. Before the man on the ground could reach out to grab his sonic, the beast hooked its claws into his leg and pulled him towards it, his screaming falling on deaf ears.

The Doctor kicked out, his converse clad foot connecting with the beast's sensitive nose. Now free from the vicious claws, he scooted back until he bumped a tree and used it for support to pull himself up. After swiping its paws across its bloodied nose, the creature looked up at him and snarled. He ducked around the back of the tree when the creature lunged, dragging its claws down the length of the trunk and leaving deep scores in the bark.

A paw reached around and swatted at the Doctor, but he slid out of the way and edged around the tree as the creature slinked around towards him. The long tail of the beast brushed him as he stood up and held his breath a moment. There was no way he could run with his leg torn up like it was, and even if he could, that creature could bound nearly twenty feet at a time. _If I could just get to the sonic_, he thought desperately as he spotted the tool lying in the snow about seven feet away. He shoved off the tree and jumped towards it.

His hearts nearly stopped as a heavy paw slammed him down into the ground. A huge mouth clamped down on his already injured arm and lifted him up, shaking his body like he was nothing more than a doll. Something popped in his shoulder as the beast hurled him into a tree. His breath came in ragged pants as fire spread from his shoulder and up his neck, rendering him nearly paralyzed. His dark eyes watched as the beast approached him again, head lowered and powerful legs carrying it almost gracefully across the snow. Its shadow loomed over him, and his fiery eyes met its cruel blue ones for a brief moment.

Silence rang out through the trees.

* * *

**Pssh...I don't want to go up against those two beasts. Do any of you? Man, I would be in trouble if the stuff I wrote came to life. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing! :)**


	8. Chapter 7

**I hate running in the cold...**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Frost came to a stop, cocking her head to the side and breathing heavily. Taking a deep breath of freezing air and trying to calm her nerves, she stretched out her hearing. He couldn't have gone far; she had already passed the still unconscious indigo beast and had tracked the tracks as far as the cliff. The tree she was currently examining had blood streaked down it and a claw lying at its base.

"Stupid thing must've gotten its claws stuck," she whispered, her dark eyes following where the bloody tracks led off to. They were heading at a bit of an angle back the way she had come, back toward the warehouse. Setting off again at a brisk pace, she kept her breathing quiet and her ears open.

A hoarse scream echoed sickly through the trees. Her heart stopped for a moment and sunk down before she broke into a full blown run. That scream had given her something to follow, and now her legs were burning from the exertion as were her lungs. But there was no way in hell that she was going to slow down until she found him. It had been her job to protect him, but she had allowed that beast to take off with him.

A fading light bounced about fifty feet away from her through the fog and snow. She pulled her lips back and snarled at the lanterns that swayed freely as their carrier lightly bounded through the icy forest. There was the nagging fear that the small lights would beat her to the Doctor, but she roughly shoved that aside. The lanterns had only ever beaten Frost once, and it wasn't about to become twice.

She pulled to a stop, seeing the beast through the trees leaning over the man she had been looking for. Her pupils narrowed into slits as she pulled back the hammer on the 10gauge.

* * *

He jolted at the sound of a shot being fired in his general direction. His pained eyes could barely make out the beast jumping as well and turning away from him to hiss at something in the distance. Another shot fired, this time blasting away the bark of the tree next to the one he was tossed against. If he had been able to sit up, he would've been able to clearly see who was shooting at the beast. There was half a thought floating through his foggy mind of who it was. And when his ears heard the gravelly voice shout, relief strangely settled over his hearts.

"Get out of here!" she yelled. The Doctor grit his teeth and hoped that the woman was able to shoot well enough not to hit him in the process. "C'mon! I said get!"

The creature growled and swiped its paw in her direction. He saw a 10gauge shotgun drop into the snow, its ammo spent. That relief that he had felt earlier began to dwindle away until another sharper, more defined shot cracked through the forest. Blood sprayed against the snow and tree as another shot actually hit the beast in the hindquarters, earning an enraged cry from its throat.

"Get your arse out of here!" Frost cursed roughly at the creature.

At ground level, the Doctor could see her bare feet circling toward him as the creature backed away with an irate growl. He snapped his eyes closed as the creature's feet left the snow in a flying leap, and another shot sounded out much closer this time. Cracking open one eye, he saw the bloodied beast hit the ground with a thud. It struggled to get up, but eventually did and started to limp away while casting glances over its large shoulders the whole way.

He heard the woman drop to her knees next to him, and felt her cold hand on his face. The relief was back, and was making itself at home in his hearts.

"Saving you thrice in twenty-four hours, that should be a record or something," her slight chuckle was a bit soothing, yet the physical pain that was coursing through him at the moment didn't let him make a remark. It was all he could do to just breathe through several cracked ribs and who knew what else. "C'mon, there's a cave about a hundred feet away. It'll be easier to defend and keep the cold out."

* * *

Frost paused to readjust her grip around the Doctor's chest as her bare feet faltered slightly in the snow. His head lolled on her shoulder, his breathing rough and labored. She felt most of his weight leaning on her and silently thanked the air that she was tall enough and strong enough to support him.

"Hey, use your good leg," she murmured.

The Doctor groaned, becoming aware that he had let Frost carry most of his weight the whole way. He stood up straighter and inhaled sharply. He could see the cave now; it was low to the ground, but tall enough for their purposes. Frost kept a firm grip on his arm as they crouched down under the ceiling of the cave, and as he carefully lowered himself onto the twiggy ground.

"I would've thought that I would've started to regenerate by now," he whispered. He clenched his teeth a wave of pain shot up from his ribs as Frost maneuvered around so he could rest his head on her lap.

"You're natural healing system is a bit shot," she replied gruffly, sliding off her backpack and starting to unzip it. She pulled multiple items out, ignoring the questioning look she was receiving from the Doctor. "My healing system is still fighting with yours, and will be for a while."

"Do you know what you're doing?" he asked as she took an extra coat and made a bit of a protective wall along his side that faced the mouth of the cave.

"Yes," Frost nodded, starting to gently undo the buttons on his jacket and shirt. She was quick and soon had his chest exposed as well as the enormous bite marks. "That thing could've crushed your ribcage in."

"But it didn't," the Doctor said. He sucked in a breath through clenched teeth as she poured a bit of water onto the wounds before continuing, "Managed to jab my thumb at its eye, made it let go."

"Jus' like a shark," she whispered. With slow and careful movements she wiped away the coagulated blood, her eyes narrowing at the revealed bruises that starkly contrasted with his pale flesh. "Are your lungs like a human's?"

"No, not exactly," he said. "If you're worried 'bout a punctured lung, I can tell you right now that a few ribs are cracked, not snapped. To be specific, five, six, seven, and eight on my left are fractured and nine is just seriously bruised."

"I wish all my patients could tell me what's broken," Frost gave him a smirk that quickly faded. She laid the cloth on the backpack and twisted around, lowering her head down.

The Doctor blinked, bringing his left hand up to wipe at his eyes. Suddenly the tickling and teasing feeling at the back of his mind made sense as large cat like ears came into focus where Frost's ears should have been. And it wasn't just his eyes playing tricks, either, because he felt the soft gray fur touch his chest as she listened to his hearts.

"I was right about you not being fully human," the Doctor said. "You've got to have quite the intricate perception filter."

Frost slid a thumb under the chain around her neck, pulling a small pendant from her shirt. It was a blue globe with green swirls in it and had a golden serpent with small red jewels for eyes wrapped around it.

"This helps keep me looking human," she said and grabbed the cloth again. "I can hold a human hybrid form easier than full human, so that's why I use this."

"Hybrid with what?" he asked. The Doctor flinched as Frost moved his arm a bit, reminding him of the out of socket shoulder. She looked down at him, and that's when he saw her pupils definitely turn to slits for a moment.

"Your shoulder's out of socket," Frost grumbled.

"Yeah, I gathered as much," the Doctor grit his teeth. He took in slow and controlled breaths, trying to calm the fire that flickered through his shoulder. His mind still being on the subject of her being a hybrid, he said, "Large ears, fangs, and slit pupils, you must be from one of the far ends of the galaxy."

"You're still missing something," she whispered and started to rub his arm.

The Doctor followed where her dark eyes were looking, and was met with soft fur. A long tail with dark gray fur swept bits of snow out of the cave, curling back around to lie across his arm.

There was a surge of movement and a crack that echoed through the cave.

"You cheeky devil!" the Doctor yelled as his shoulder snapped back into place. He would have jerked his arm out of her grip, but knew that would only cause more pain. "Should've guessed you would do something like that."

"Yeah," Frost bared her fangs in a small smirk as he looked up at her with a bit of irritation. She narrowed her eyes at him and laid back her ears. "Oh, get over it. You know that your shoulder would've started to heal wrong if it hadn't gotten popped back into place soon."

"Could've warned me," he raised a brow at her.

"Muscles tense up when people know what's coming," she said simply as she pulled her beautiful dagger from its sheath. Almost as if to prove her point, she felt his arm tense in her hand. "I'm not cutting your arm off. Just don't move."

"So, you've had medical training," the Doctor said slowly, keeping his mind off the pain for now as his body worked to dull it away. The hybrid merely nodded. "Where from?"

"Here and there," she shrugged one shoulder. "Learned a lot in Tibet and China."

"A traveler, then," he whispered mostly to himself. Though, he was sure, those large ears probably heard him. When he glanced up at her, however, she had kind of a far off look in her eyes as she watched a few flakes of snow fall outside of the mouth of the cave.

A caribou stood outside of the cave, hidden partially by the trees and the snow that the clouds spat down. Its glassy eyes locked with the two in the cave, especially the one that was looking at it. The lanterns that hung from its antlers flickered in the dulling light, melting the delicate flakes that came in contact with them. It puffed one long breath into the sky, causing the air to become foggy and misty.

"Lanterns," Frost said inaudibly, casting her eyes back down to the Doctor. Both of them looked out as the caribou gave them a gentle glance and a nod before turning and bounding away into the snow laden forest. "Beat ya this time."

* * *

**Please remember to review! And thanks for reading! :)**


	9. Chapter 8

**Almost done, here...**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Anubis chuckled, his baritone voice echoing off the slick walls of the cavern. The small lanterns on the antlers of the creatures bounced in the dark of the melting Alaskan sun, mixing with the glow that the Hourglass put off by itself from the tumultuous storms in its top half, reflecting off its smooth inner glass walls.

"What she is doing is wrong," Acheron lifted his head to the glass, looking right where the small fracture was. "Without his regeneration, the cracks never appear, Amelia Pond never meets him, River Song is never born, and the Silence cease to exist. Without River Song, he would've died in the library that the Vashta Nerada inhabited."

"She has seen to that," Anubis laced his hands behind his back, coming to stand next to his brother. "She is impulsive at times, but she's not stupid. Hardheaded and stubborn, but very calculating….much like you."

"She's created a paradox, then," Acheron growled, laying the long ears a top his head back. "How does she plan on holding it stable?"

"Displaced time and separate dimensions, along with the help of a natural anomaly in time inside the library," Anubis whispered.

"No wonder the Hourglass cracked," Acheron grumbled. "Has she any idea what could happen?"

"You ask that question as if you don't know. She knows the possible outcomes," Anubis sighed. "But her will is set, and she will do anything to protect him."

"And I will do anything to make this set event happen," the rabbit like creature turned his head to look at his jackal like brother. "Would you aid her should I cause chaos?"

"If you are asking whether or not I would stop you from trying to kill him, then no, I will not aid either of them," Anubis bared long fangs in a snarl as he continued, "But, if I feel that your actions could bring about fatal harm to the Keeper or endanger the true position of the Hourglass, then I will step in by whatever means necessary."

"The Egyptians pegged you wrongly as the god of death," it was Acheron's turn to chuckle now. "Bastet's title may have better fit you."

"And Seth's would have better fit you, the one who never got named," the jackal snorted.

"I was smart enough to keep myself away from the humans," the rabbit turned his head away. "I will not severely injure her. I am not as cruel and cold blooded, not like you think my reputation should see fitting anyways."

"You are aware that if she ever sees you while you're going after him, she will not hesitate to kill you," Anubis raised a brow at his brother.

"And here if we kill her, we might possibly be breaking some law that has been around since the beginning of time, yet she may come after us if she pleases and we will simply fade into mythology," Acheron shook his head at the thought. "Others before her were treated the same way, but those certain ones still hunted them down."

"You have strange ways of thinking, brother," Anubis smirked. "If you already know that you cannot get near him, why bother?"

"Because, brother," a demented smile started to spread across his face. "Because there are others who can sense that time has gone wrong. I will only go if I can see that another being is going to have a go at him. I want to be there to make sure that the job gets completed this time around."

"He has made many allies in his travels, you know," the jackal whispered. "Not all view him as a person to be lost. The Wolfrem are in gratitude to him as are the Negatherium."

"For every ally made he has made two enemies," the glow in the black rabbit's eyes grew in intensity. "The Daleks, Cybermen, Slitheen, Sycorax, and the Krillitanes, to name just a few, are some of his most powerful enemies. And he has yet to meet the others."

"You forget, he has yet to meet his most powerful allies as well," Anubis raised his muzzle gracefully into the shine of the lightning within the shapely glass. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the rabbit grimace and bare long incisors in distaste.

"You have glimpsed the future?" he questioned.

"No, but I can predict what will happen," the jackal replied. "If you think she showed me, then no. Neither the Keeper nor I would ever look into our future."

"I think she fears it," Acheron said.

"I think that she prefers it to be a surprise, rather than being told the end of the story," Anubis smirked. "You fear the allies he will make, don't you?"

"I am just as able to predict the future as well as you. Though they are few, he has made and will make some very powerful ones," the rabbit turned and started to stalk off. "I fear only one thing, and that is not his allies."

"What do you fear, then?" Anubis asked, turning to watch his brother melt into the shadows.

"That, brother, is none of your business."

* * *

The large cat beast flopped down next to its indigo mate, turning and starting to rasp its rough tongue across its bloodied hindquarters. Its mate sat quietly beside it, head on its large paws and ears turned down. Both sets of eyes flicked up as a caribou danced through the trees towards them.

Orange lights threw their colors on the powdery snow around it as it slowed to a creeping walk. The lanterns hanging from its antlers swayed calmly with its movement in an almost hypnotic way. For a while it simply stood still, watching the two beasts with large and slightly glowing eyes.

Finally, the blue and gray mottled female growled. The caribou looked at her with subtle regret. Another growl joined hers as the indigo male swiped a large paw at the creature.

With a single push of its spindly legs, it leapt out of the way. Its breath fogged the air as it bellowed sweetly.

Both beasts blinked slowly. The mottled female moaned lowly and mournfully. She received a gentle nod and a guttural mutter from the caribou. It seemed to comfort both of them, seeing as they settled down into the hoary snow around them in a new contentment.

Death always followed the lanterns carefully, and the lanterns promised to follow him.

* * *

**Confused about anything? I'll be happy to explain! :) Thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	10. Chapter 9

**And here is the final chapter, but not the end of the story...;)**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

"Careful!" the Doctor yelped as Frost put a little too much pressure on his arm.

"Fractured, not broken," she said and reached for a roll of cloth bandages.

"Doesn't matter! It still hurts!" he furrowed his brows as she laid the cloth aside for the moment.

"What are you allegoric to?" she asked, slipping her hand into the leather bag strapped around her left leg.

"Why?" he asked. At her look, he said, "Aspirin. That is the most deadly thing to Time Lords."

"Acetylsalicylic acid," Frost mumbled absently. "Are you allegoric to methyl salicylate?"

"Nah, it's only when acetylsalicylic acid is combined with the other ingredients in aspirin," he replied. "Why? What are you planning on doing?"

She pulled a small bottle from her pouch and unscrewed the lid. The smell of cloves hit the Doctor's sensitive nose instantly, and now he realized why she was asking what he was allegoric to. To his knowledge, the essential oil extracted from cloves was used as a disinfectant as well as to treat fever and muscle pain. He used something from a clove base as a painkiller as well since aspirin was completely out of the question.

"This should keep any nasty infections out of these wounds," Frost mumbled as she gently rubbed the clear oil across the teeth marks on his chest. "I don't want to be the one draining puss from an infection later."

"Ah, lovely picture," the Doctor grimaced.

"I wouldn't put it past you at the moment to let yourself go," she whispered and carefully wound the cloth around his chest. "You're a bit of a death-seeker."

"Seems like you know more about me than I do you," the Doctor said. He analyzed what she had called him for a few moments before saying, "And you're much better?"

"I may go into fights without too much forethought, but if I live afterwards I try to keep myself alive," Frost flicked one of her ears. She looked at him slyly. "And I'm very old."

"I doubt you've got too much on me," the Doctor smirked slightly.

"Nine hundred and five years of running around in the universe and you still think you're old," she snorted in amusement at the thought.

"How'd you….?"

"I'm very old _and_ very watchful," she said as she took his arm in her grasp and massaged the oil into the cuts.

"But how?" he questioned. "There's no way, unless…."

"A long time ago, when the universe and time were neither friend nor foe," Frost hummed gently, closing her eyes as the old legend came back to her. "Everything sits and flows in the glass, everyone just watches time pass. Its tumultuous storms and ebbing power does entice, but just watch its frosted glass and tears of ice. Ever fixed and ever flowing, none may control it but just watch time keep going. None may touch, none may cause time to pass, none but…"

"…the Keeper of the Hourglass," he finished, his features pulling taut. "But…you're not…it's just a legend…."

"Show the legend no dishonor, for in dire need the Hourglass shall be its forerunner," she continued softly. "Watch for the signs because long before the hour of need it shall appear, to this legend be wise and do not just hear. For the Keeper comes after the warning, not yet known is whether it'll leave those full of joy or mourning."

"You…" the Doctor rummaged around in his beehive of thoughts for the proper word of what to call her. "You're a liar." She only gave him a roll of the eyes and a shake of her head, much like a parent would do after giving up trying to prove something to a child. "There's only one thing that'll convince me that you're the Keeper."

"Hmm?"

"What's my real name?" he asked darkly.

"Why would you expect me to know that?" Frost sighed. "The rest of the legend says that the Keepers are bound to secrecy. Too many secrets, too many dark lies and bloody battles that could damage the fabric of time. I don't know everything, nor would I tell you. I'm not the Bad Wolf."

The Doctor inhaled sharply, and then wished he hadn't as a burst of pain flared up from his cracked ribs. He glared up at her and said, "How do you know about the Bad Wolf?"

"You want to know why I know that and not your name?" Frost rubbed her eyes briefly. "Rose caused a huge flux in time with that little incident. Not that it was bad or anything, but that golden flare that came off the Hourglass from that sudden event could've made any Keeper sick for a few days."

"What do you mean, 'made any Keeper sick'?" the Doctor asked.

"If you were a Keeper, then you'd understand," she said simply. She cast her eyes outwards into the sun that was starting to barely die in the evening. Even in the winter months, the shimmering sun only crept along the horizon and set every once in a while. The trees were silhouetted beautifully, as was the tiny glow of a caribou carrying a few lanterns on its antlers, leaving a feeling of dread in its bounding wake. She sighed and looked down at him, saying, "You're a bit of a trouble magnet, aren't you?"

Thrown off by the sudden change in topic, the Doctor replied, "Oi! I'm not that bad."

"I s'pose that I should be grateful that you are," Frost leaned back and let her thoughts start to wonder once again. "I might've gone blind years ago back in Egypt if you hadn't been there."

"Hold on a tick," he sat up on his left elbow a bit quicker than he would've liked, but followed through anyways. He stared at the scare on her face. It was deep, but not horribly ugly and definitely not normally healed. A more purplish color tinted it rather than a skin tone that most humans would have acquired, and then he realized that humans didn't have the kind of technology yet to heal cuts like that. That had never even crossed his mind. "Who are you?"

"Frost," she shrugged and turned her head away from him.

"If you're the Keeper, and I'm still not completely sure that you are, let alone that the Hourglass is anything more than a legend, then how come you decided to change time like you did all of the sudden?" the Doctor asked offhandedly.

"I was a bit blind to the future," she answered as she returned his wide eyed gaze with her dark one. The shadowy look she gave him was intensified by the bruise that was blooming a dark shade of purple across her jaw and cheek bone. "I've been blind before, and it scares me."

"And so you thought that by preventing me from regenerating that would help you to see again?" he inquired, putting his tongue to the roof of his mouth.

"The best way to observe time is not through the Hourglass," she whispered and smirked. "The best way is to travel it."

"What're you suggesting?" the Doctor's eyes narrowed before they went wide again with realization.

"You're stuck with me."

* * *

**Frost isn't Mary Sue, is she? I've really tried hard not to make her that way. Thanks for reading and reviewing! And keep an eye out for the next story in the series, "Deadly Lullaby".**


End file.
